College software setup

[Koreos]

Hello everyone,

I am starting college this fall, with a shiny new Macbook (my first mac ever), and I would like opinions of the software setup I've thought of:

- VoodooPad (lecture notes and basically everything)
- iCal (obvious calendar features)
- Things + Things for iPod Touch (it seems like the best GTD app out there and it will sync with the portable version soon, it also syncs with iCal)
- AnxietyApp (lightweight ToDo list that syncs with iCal and Things)
- iWork (for projects, presentations, etc)
- Cha-Ching (management of money budgets)

I'll be getting the 2.4Ghz C2D upgraded to 4GB RAM (through a 3rd party), and an iPod Touch, probably the 8GB one.

My concerns:
- For VoodooPad users: Is it stable? Good choice to use during lectures and general note taking? I was thinking of using it with OmniGraffler for the casual diagram... I come from using OneNote, but all the Mac equivalents are either outliners or are too bloated... I also was thinking of adquiring the normal version, not the Lite, mainly because of the Categories and LinkBack features.
- Cha-Ching users: I really am on a budget will this suit my needs? they are pretty simple...

BTW I'm going to major in CIS and MIS.

 

[boast]

[no suggestions, just a q. lol]

are computers actually useful for taking notes? It might be because I mostly take math/physics courses, but I can't see it being more efficient.

 

[magid]

Honestly, I have seen maybe 3 or 4 kids take notes on their computer since ive been at school. Ill be a junior next year and I started out in engineering and switched over to business information systems. No one in my math or science classes took notes with their comp except for one kid who had a tablet and maybe a kid or two in my eco classes used their computers. I wouldnt really worry about it too much. Go invest in some spiral notebooks

Also, about cha-ching, ive never heard of it, but Ive been using mint.com which is a great site. Say you have a Chase debit card or any other card for that matter, all you do is enter in your online info for that card into mint.com and they provide you with charts and graphs categorizing all of your spendings. You are able to set budgets for all categories and they send you a email at the end of every week with your spendings. I would check it out.

 

[psychotropic]

depends on the school...

[no suggestions, just a q. lol]

are computers actually useful for taking notes? It might be because I mostly take math/physics courses, but I can't see it being more efficient.

I really think it depends on the school and department as to whether or not people use their laptops for notes or not. When I was in my undergraduate program I used my laptop for all of my psychology courses. I found it easier to take notes and keep up with the teacher through typing, rather than paper and pencil. One tip that might be useful is if the professor provides the powerpoint presentations prior to the lecture; I would copy and paste them into a word document and then fill in my notes wherever I needed them.

Hopefully that will help or give you an idea at least. But on the other hand in my masters program I rarely use my laptop for notes due to the way the courses are taught.

 

[dukebound85]

here is what you use a computer for in college

1) reports/papers: use office as it is the most compatible, esp if you work in groups

2) music and movies: use itunes and quicktime/dvd player

3) instant message/email: ichat, but really try not to get sucked down this blackhole lol. for mail, mail.app works good lol

3) games if you do: bootcamp


for school related purposes, you will get by with a notebook and pencil and reading the book. id much rather have hard copies of my notes and i have yet to find an easy way to draw diagrams make sidemarks or anything like i can do when handwriting

however, here is a good app site if you want to explore it:
http://web.mac.com/simon_elliott/simon_elliott@mac.com/Software.html

 

[raymondu999]

In case you're using the Voodoo and Anxiety for replacements to Schoolhouse, I found this other great app, iProcrastinate, by a MacRumors forum member. It's quite similar in functionality. It does pretty much the same things as far as I can see, except it can't track your grades and also can't track terms. However, there's a big boost in speed and reliability as the Universal nature of the code does what it's supposed to, unlike the currently-only-stable-on-Rosetta-despite-being-Universal SchoolHouse